52 LOLA 



what the word was at once. In a few instances the 

 right answers were given immediately, but there was 

 still a great deal of uncertainty. I suppose the entire 

 alphabet at one dose had been too much for her ! 

 But I tried her again in the afternoon going over 

 the letters carefully, and set up the card once more, 

 to "jog her memory." And the next morning she 

 knew it nearly to perfection, and was able to follow 

 with her raps such words as h, o, 1 ,z, (holz = wood), 

 for I took care to separate the letters, fearing she 

 would otherwise get confused. Whenever she seemed 

 in doubt over some letter I had recourse to her alphabet 

 card, and made her look it up herself. 



I began to feel that the foundation for all that was 

 most important had now been laid, and that at no 

 distant future I should be able to ask her all kinds of 

 questions, and my joy was great. For now the 

 moment was at hand when I might hope to gain 

 insight into the very being of this dog, get into touch 

 with its thinking and its feeling all of which was 

 so immeasurably strange to me. Yet what I here 

 anticipated was not to be reached in so short a span 

 of time as had hitherto sufficed for her other studies. 

 For the present Lola spelt out no more than I told 

 her to, and I continued practising her diligently, for 

 I felt sure that as long as it gave her any trouble a 

 more lengthy answer and more especially, a spon- 

 taneous one would not be forthcoming. It had taken 

 one month of study to accomplish all I have here set 

 down, and I felt both grateful, happy, and not a little 

 awed and, indeed, I did my best to thank her by 

 my sympathy and consideration. It was only later 

 that I came to see my own inconsistency 1 



The elementary tuition, the form of which I had 

 tentatively evolved was now at an end ; and constant 



